Bay-class landing ship

The Bay class is a class of four dock landing ships built for Britain's Royal Fleet Auxiliary in the 2000s to replace the older Round Table class of logistics landing ships. The design derives from the Dutch-Spanish Royal Schelde Enforcer, and each ship is certified as a class 1 passenger ship with features similar to a ro-pax ferry. Two ships, Largs Bay and Lyme Bay, were ordered from Swan Hunter at Wallsend in 2000 and two, Mounts Bay and Cardigan Bay, from BAE Systems at Govan in 2001. Swan Hunter fell badly behind on drawings and costs, its contract was cancelled in July 2006, and the incomplete Lyme Bay was towed to the Clyde for completion by BAE, the last ship built on the Tyne. A full-load displacement of 16,160 tonnes lets each ship carry up to 24 Challenger 2 tanks or 150 light trucks, with a well dock for landing craft and a flight deck for helicopters but no hangar. The class has served in amphibious exercises, Iraqi navy training, counter-drug patrols and the 2010 Haiti relief effort, and Largs Bay was sold to Australia in 2011 as HMAS Choules. This entry covers the class as a whole, with Swan Hunter as the make of its first two hulls.